


Used Kunais and Empty Ramen Bowls

by lovelytomeetyou



Category: Naruto
Genre: Cute Kids, F/M, Fluff, Growing Up Together, Ramen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7544599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelytomeetyou/pseuds/lovelytomeetyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You say I am as bright as the sun itself; but so are you". MinaKushi drabbles narrating their relationship. Varies from K to T.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pompous Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting from FFnet. Originally published in 2012.
> 
> Title: Pompous Hair  
> Summary: MinaKushi drabbles.  
> Rating: Varies from K to T.  
> Disclaimer: I don't own this series in any way.
> 
> A/N (written in 2012): (Btw, I tend to use Japanese name order). The Japanese suffixes are very important in their culture, so to explain briefly: ‘-san’ is used as a term of respect for someone of higher class or older than you, like a teacher. ‘-kun’ is used for classmates, usually boys (hence Kushina’s anger) while ‘-chan’ is more of a term of endearment to a small child or young girls who you are somewhat close to (now you can understand Minato’s fear of calling the Red Hot Habanero that, no?). Also, only closer people call each other by their given names, most use only their last names (first in Japanese name order). Of course Kushina would let it slip every once in a while, though.
> 
> I’m in love with this pairing. While I don’t watch Naruto anymore, a friend of mine showed me their episodes and I just had to write something about them. These are short, simple ficlets that tell the development of their relationship.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kushina’s first impression of Namikaze Minato was not favorable.

Kushina’s first impression of Namikaze Minato was not favorable. ‘Girly’ didn’t even cut it. He was a wimp, a weakling, and a pantywaist. Not to mention that ridiculous, pompous blond hair that just wouldn’t sit down. Was he trying to imitate the sun now? How could he even be in the Academy for ninjas with those looks? Certainly the other children mocked him – because she as sure as heck was.

Her blood-colored hair was apparently rare, she realized with a frown as the mockery – almost insults, really – continued nonstop. Back home at Uzushiogakure it was completely normal and the Uzumaki clan was famous for its redhead members. But apparently in Konoha this brought you the status of an aberration.

The bullying eventually stopped, even if it was by her own hands as she kicked every single jerk’s ass – and there were many, mind you. Some people managed to stay on her good side, however: old Mito was like a grandmother to her and both belonged to the same clan, Mikoto of the Uchiha clan turned out to be a surprisingly good friend and annoying, girly Namikaze was by her side sometimes as well.

Why, she had no idea. The boy, for some reason or another, was popular with everyone in the glass and was in no way bullied to Kushina’s envy. No, the boy was a genius who aced all exams but she had yet to see him in action. Maybe he was just a pompous nerd. Yes, that’s what he was: a pompous jerk that importunate her for some reason or another.

That’s why he was currently sitting by her side on the grass as she rested and caught her breath after failing yet another ninjutsu test. He had been one of the first to finish the assignment so she didn’t even see him in action. For all she knew, he could’ve probably bribed some student or teacher – after all, no one could be that good. And now excellent, over-the-top boy genius was waiting his time talking to her, the failure of almost every class expect taijutsu. Just great.

“Don’t worry, Uzumaki-kun, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it someday.” He said with a smile.

Someday? Who was he to say when she’d get it or not? And she really didn’t like how he addressed her as ‘-kun’ – she could be a tomboy, but she was still a girl, dammit! Well, she would beat him to a pulp if he ever dared use ‘-chan’ after her name too.

“You see, the key to ninjutsu is-“

And now he was doing the teaching act? He may be a genius, but he was no teacher. She just couldn’t take it, the annoying jerk.

“Listen, Minato-“ Realizing her mistake she stopped, but the boy eagerly caught on it.

“Does this mean I can call you by your first name, Uzumaki-kun?”

Argh, ‘-kun’ again.

“No, and stop calling me that.” Ignoring his confused look, she continued. “In fact, stop hanging around me too, I don’t want to talk with you.”

“It’s fine, we can talk another time.” He smiled in reply.

She growled. Did nothing freak him out?

“No, I don’t want to talk with you. Ever.”

“You’re probably just tired. The training was quite tough today.” He answered as good-natured as ever. It was really irking her.

“I don’t like you, Namikaze.”

“Oh?” 

The jerk didn’t even seem altered by that. Well, it wasn’t like it was news either.

“You’re annoying and girly.”

“I see. I’m sorry you think that, Uzumaki-kun. But I’d still like to chat with you.” He kept his usual smile.

This was really annoying her to no end. How could he remain impartial like that? Maybe he was some sort of new ninja generation or something. But she didn’t want to deal with him, not now or ever. So she said the only thing she had left.

“Your hair is pompous.”

That hit the spot, she realized with a smirk. The boy wasn’t smiling anymore and he looked very down. She didn’t want to see the ever-smiling Namikaze with such a grim expression; somehow it just didn’t seem right. Ignoring the increasing feeling of guilt in her belly, Kushina turned around and got up. She meant to leave but her legs seemed too heavy now. Dammit.

She sighed, unsure if he had caught it. Breathing deeply, she said the words in a hurry. 

“Your hair is pompous. But… it’s also kinda… it’scute.”

She had no idea if he even heard what she said, because as soon as those words were out, Kushina ran as fast as she could. In a few moments she was already one block away but she continued running until she arrived at her home to see old Mito standing outside. With a smile to the old lady, the redhead girl walked inside quickly.

After waiting a few moments she realized with a sight that Minato didn’t follow her. She wasn’t upset at all, that was final. So he wasn’t able to hear her, huh… Well, it’s not like she would ever say it again, anyway. And even if he did, he’d never think of her hair as something beautiful. She didn’t like her hair and the villagers hated it, so it was absolutely impossible someone could ever like it. 

Gazing at her reflex in the mirror, particularly at her straight long red-hair, the young kunoichi in training pouted.

“At least his hair is pompous.”


	2. Ramen

Apparently the last day’s insult didn’t have the result Kushina expected. Minato – she was now calling him by his name inside her head and that was just sad – still gave smiles to everyone, including her. For some reason, that made her feel even angrier with herself, rather than ease her guilt. She had been cruel in her remarks regarding the boy, even if he was only trying to befriend her – why, she didn’t know.

So she started to simply ignore him as an attempt to quiet down those annoying feelings she always got when he looked at her. Why did he do that, anyway? Whenever she turned around to catch him looking at her, he’d already be doing something else (damn, that boy was quick). He started looking so much it even made her wonder if there was something on her face and that’s when she realized: he was looking at her hair. 

Well, that explained some things. So that’s what it was about. He was just like everybody else, always looking at her with those horrible faces and mentally – or verbally, most of the time – bullying her and trying to send her back to her destroyed home. Konoha was a horrible place to live in sometimes. But Kushina still liked it very much. It wasn’t home yet, not at all, but it was a nice enough village with wonderful weather and pretty different buildings. Not everyone was terrible either, they were shy and afraid of her, but only her classmates – and sometimes the older ninjas in the Academy - acted as bullies. The older ones who knew her secret just feared her… and she didn’t know if that was good or bad.

Old Mito always gave her advice on everything, not just the jinchuriki business, and the old lady acted as the best source of guidance for the young Uzumaki. Kushina respected her and even loved her dearly; Mito was like the grandmother she never had. The young kunoichi told the more experienced woman everything from her life: they usually talked about the old days in Uzushiogakure or how Konoha was formed by Mito’s husband -that was when Kushina really did love Konoha– and when they weren’t training secret jutsus together, Kushina would tell her about her life and her (lack of) friends. Including the annoying boys and girls from her class, even more annoying Uchiha Fugaku and stupidly annoying Namikaze Minato. Interestingly, Mito always took interest in those bits and it only made the redhead even more annoyed. If possible, she wanted to avoid talking about anyone in the Academy – she wasn’t the greatest of friends with anyone there and all this just felt like gossip to her.

Uzumaki Kushina didn’t like many things; in fact, she had a long list of things she didn’t like and the item “young ninjas her age” was in the top. She also didn’t like feminine things or ninjutsu (because she was terrible at it). But there was one thing that Kushina liked the most and that was ramen – salt flavored one, preferably. The redhead discovered the heavenly food on pure coincidence as she sit down to take a bite of the food in Ichiraku’s Ramen shop. The owner was very kind and his in-training son was equally nice. The price wasn’t overly high like most things were in the village and that and a bunch of other factors made Kushina so curious about the food that she just had to try it. And heck, she had loved it ever since.

There wasn’t a single day she would go without ramen –after experimenting for a couple of months, she was sure salt ramen was by far her favorite- and, if she would’ve ever wanted to be Hokage (because that little speech was just a failed way to try to be liked by others of her age) it was right now, so she could make ramen a meal to be enjoyed every single day. She even brought it to school every once in a while as lunch. Some of the children were curious about it and most just scoffed it away like anything she did. One, named Uchiha Mikoto went there to talk to Kushina and ask where it was from. The redhead gladly advertised Ichiraku’s Ramen shop to her and made sure to remember the girl by – she seemed nice.

But of course, annoying people also came to do what they did best: annoy her. The bullies would come and mock how the ‘tomato’ and currently ‘Red Habanero’ loved ramen and, after thoroughly enjoying her ramen to the last bit, said ‘Red Habanero’ would get up and proceed to thoroughly kick the boys’ asses. It was, all in all, an enjoyable, if often tiring day. And that only made her want to attend Ichiraku’s even more. 

Indeed, Kushina liked ramen so much, she didn’t even care when a blue-eyed blond sit next to her and eyed her meal as he started chatting with her. Great, boy genius was here now. After spending five minutes together, with Minato chatting about nonsense things like the weather and tomorrow’s training –she was slightly interested in the latter, though- and Kushina only nodding along as she ate her ramen, the meal was soon finished. And Minato was still there. 

Kushina didn’t understand. He had been there only for the meal, obviously, and even if she didn’t give him a bite – because, really, how could one do that with ramen? That would involve eating with the same chopsticks and that was just disgusting- he was still in a good mood. 

Mentally cursing her curiosity, she asked, “Why are you still here?”

“Huh?” He asked in a poor attempt to be dumb in her opinon.

“Why are you here, with me, even now that the ramen is over? I didn’t offer you a bite at all and yet you still continued talking.”

Apparently boy genius wasn’t such a genius since he didn’t get the meaning of such a simple phrase. Sighing, she said it again with long pauses. “Why. Are. You. Here?”

Nonplussed, he answered naturally, “Because I wanted to talk with you.” 

And there was another one of his bright, annoying smiles.

“Even if I didn’t offer you a bite?” She asked ,surprised. “Because that’s pretty rude, you know.”

He laughed as if there wasn’t a single bad thing in the world. 

“Don’t worry, Uzumaki-kun,” She frowned at the suffix once more. “I know you like ramen very much, so I understand.”

That completely took her off guard. 

Still smiling, the blond continued. “Although, if you wouldn’t mind me ask, where is it from? It seemed delicious.”

“I- Ichiraku’s Ramen shop...” Her brain seemingly caught up with her mouth midterm and she added energetically. “They have the best ramen in the whole village –dattebane!”

Dammit, she said those words again. Whenever Kushina would get too excited, they’d just leave her mouth like that. Just like her father did, she remembered.

Not noticing – or just being polite enough to seem so – Minato smiled back at her happily.

“Dully noted! Thank you, Uzumaki-kun.” 

And with that, he got up and he was gone. Kushina just continued sitting there, watching the boy disappear in a dash –he really was quick, wasn’t he?- in the middle of her stupor. That was by far the best conversation they ever had and the subject had been ramen, of all things. Strangely, it made her feel quite good about herself.


	3. Annoying Boy Genius

After the last training with the annoying instructor from the Academy who wouldn't stop yelling, all possibility of boy genius Minato not being good in fighting was promptly thrown out the window. The insufferable blond proved himself in not only ninjutsu, but also in taijutsu. Kushina was annoyed to admit he had actually kicked her ass in a non-violent, passive way - and that irked her even more. 

Their teacher had paired them up randomly - or so he said, but she knew this was because of her tendencies to beat the hell out of any boy who mocked her - and in the beginning, it really didn't seem like much to her. No ninjutsu was allowed - thankfully because she was pretty bad at it while the blond excelled in it - and taijutsu was the way to go. She would obviously win this fight hands down, that was for sure. 

Or so she thought.

She wasn't able to beat him even once, as he always seemingly disappeared before she could even touch him. After many failed attempts at kicking and punching, Kushina decided to use a few dirty tricks, even if she hated it; if it would wipe the smirk Minato was probably wearing, it was worth it. And yet it didn't work out either. She hadn't been quick enough to hit him from behind or try to catch him off guard with silly tricks. 

And so their ten-minute training fight ended, though it felt like years to Kushina. Never before had she felt so tired after training and now she could barely catch her breath as she sit down on the grass. But of course the boy genius was just fine; he was idly sitting down and smiling at her - the nerve of that kid.

She really hated him. She hated him more than anything in the world - okay, perhaps not more than she hated Kyuubi or the ones who destroyed her village, but she did hate him very much. She hated how even after she insulted him and his stupid sunny hair that seemed quite soft -okay, not going down that like- even after she insulted him the silly boy went to see her the next day with another one of his stupid smiles.

So she decided to look down on him. She looked down on his silly, annoying smiles without a single ounce of arrogance and she looked down on his above average grades. Because for her, Minato was just an annoying boy who wanted everyone's attention and was a nerd. That made it easier to attend the Academy everyday while being constantly bullied and having one of the classes' worst grades ever - aside from Shikaku, but that was only once in a while when he didn't bother to wake up and do the damn test.

Namikaze Minato was by far one of the worst boys of her class, even if he never acted less than politely with her - aside from the stupid suffix use, of course - and seemed to respect her, even. He was one of the worst because he was simply so nice and yet did nothing to help her out. 

Kushina still remembered that day when one of her bullies brought his older brother to help him and she managed to kick both their asses; he had been there, watching everything and yet he hadn't moved even a single finger to help her out! Granted, she didn't need his help, but to only be there watching her get beaten was horrible. If he actually cared, she knew he would come to her rescue, like he did for many of the girls in class who couldn't lift a single kunai without getting a scratch. But it's not Kushina wanted to be rescued by anyone, much less him. She was fine on her own.

"That was a great fight, Kushina-kun!" The annoying blond's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You're a very good fighter; I'm glad we got to train together."

Damn, now he was smiling one of his silly, happy and absolutely alluring smiles that made her stomach flip - and that was definitely not healthy since she wouldn't be hungry anymore!

Fighting back the urge to smile back at him, Kushina frowned.

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't think you're much of a fighter, though." She was now lying through her teeth, great. Just great. "I just didn't feel like hitting you so that's why you're without a scratch." Damn, she was actually rambling on her lies! That was just sad and she needed to stop right now. "Besides, you fight like a girl -dattebane." Argh, she used those words again. She really needed to stop that horrid habit.

Great. Just great. Now Minato wasn't smiling anymore and he looked hurt again. Well, that actually was pretty girly, she had to admit it. It's not like she would get down because some idiot insulted her... but then again Minato wasn't some idiot and she sure as hell would've been angry if he said any of those things to her.

The feeling of guilt was back and Kushina certainly did not miss it. The last time she felt such guilt was the last time she had insulted him as well. It was kind of funny, in a way, since she would kick those bullies' ass without looking back once and now she was just talking with Minato and the feeling of guilt was growing in an alarming rate.

This wasn't good.

Swallowing her pride, she started, "I-"

But he interrupted her.

"I'm sorry." Wait, why was he sorry? Minato was the victim here! "I didn't mean to make you angry because of the fight. Usually I'd let my opponent give me a few blows to make him feel better, but our fight was so much fun that I acted selfishly. You can beat me now if you want." He had the nerve to look at her while saying those words.

Though the offer was very tempting, Kushina knew this whole situation was just wrong. Her boiling anger was slowly taking place of the guilt.

"So if our fight hadn't been 'so much fun', as you said it, then you'd let me hit you? Is that what you're saying? Because I don't want that, Minato, and I'm sure no one else does either. When you're fighting, you have to take your opponent seriously and not just have fun. I'm sorry if I'm not good enough to fight with Konoha's boy genius one in every generation or whatever, because I don't care -dattebane!" Damn, she said it again. 

She was standing up now and yelling at the blond. There weren't sounds of kunais being scratched or people complaining, so she was pretty sure everyone was looking at them now.

"You have to take other people seriously, Minato!" And Kushina was still shouting.

She ignored a "Since when does she call him 'Minato'?" from one of the stupid girls of their class as she continued her yelling. It felt terribly good to let it all out and she couldn't care less if other people were hearing it.

"If you are just so talented, why not quit Academy all together and find opponents worth your damn time? I'm tired of seeing you, and that's the truth." She also ignored the boy's flinching as she said those awful lies. "Why won't you take your opponents seriously? Why won't you take me seriously? Letting me hit you right now is an insult to me! Do you think I'm weak, is that why you did that?" 

He quickly shook his head, seemingly terrified of her. Good, so now he respected her.

"Then never do that again. Fight like a man and take your victory. When you actually grow some balls come see me." If she hadn't looked down on him enough, this was surely the worst time to do it. "I- I'm going home-dattebane!"

And then she proceeded to run away from the training field with the stunned students and the wild-eyed blond. When she got home, all dirty from the fight and with eyes burning from tears, dear old Mito just gave her a hug and didn't ask what was the problem - and for that Kushina was grateful.

After that the bullying from the boys had stopped for a while, though now the girls had started to bully her as well. With questions like, "Why would you such horrible things to Minato-kun?" and "Don't you have respect?", Kushina was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to take it for much longer. And that’s how any chance of having friends disappeared in less than a day - and how Kushina started to fight girls as well.

Though, in retrospect, that had been a good thing. It was only when she began being ostracized by those girls that she found her first female friend - and consequently, best friend: Uchiha Mikoto. The demure Uchiha girl noticed how the redhead was being treated, and after consoling her - though Kushina would later say they fought together in an awesome battle - the two quickly bonded. That day Kushina didn’t return home angry or with her head down.

But of course, all good things had to end. In the next week Namikaze Minato left the Academy, leaving many broken hearts behind to become a full genin. Even the teachers shed tears upon the boy genius’s leave and all class -except perhaps Uchiha Fugaku- had been a little sad. For Kushina, it was just uncomfortable. Was he leaving because of what she said? No, probably not; she was only a tomboy who spoke too much, none of her rambling would’ve have an effect on genius Minato.

Or that’s what she thought.

“I took your advice.” Minato was telling her with another one of his infuriating smiles.

They were currently in the empty classroom of the Academy after the unofficial farewell for the recently graduated ninja. While Kushina did her best to avoid him as much as possible during the day, he had still managed to find her and ask her to stay late for them to talk.

She had really expected a fight, or a violent discussion, or even an egocentric remark of how good he really was for the Academy. Instead, she got a happy Minato who looked like he had found the cure of a disease or something. And if he did, she wouldn’t really be all that surprised.

“Uzuma- No, Kushina-kun,” His self-correction didn’t make her feel better at all. And why was he calling her differently now? 

“You’ve opened my eyes. What you said the other day at training…” Kushina flinched at the mention. “…you showed me the other side of a fight: the opponent’s side. If it would’ve been me, I’d surely have been furious if someone didn’t take me seriously. So I’ve changed my fighting tactics ever since then: from now on I’ll never underestimate an opponent – it can be deadly.” He completed those words with a face far too grim for a mere eleven year old.

Kushina allowed herself a smile. So Minato wasn’t angry with her and he was even thanking her? Then they still could stay friends… or whatever the hell they were before all this mess. But that’s when the meaning of this day came crushing down on her. He was leaving the Academy today. He was leaving as a mere kid because of his genius status and his excellent grades and his success at the genin exam while she was just playing around during classes.

“And you’ve also made me realize something else.” Her head turned upwards to see him as the blond continued. “You made me realize I have to reach my potential and not just stay with everyone else. You see, I’ve been selected one year ago to do the genin exam, but I was still too unsure at that time. I thought it’d have been best if I stayed with my class and graduated with… almost everyone else.” He added with a smile. Oh, come on, not even in this he could be mean? “But you’ve made me see it in another light. I shouldn’t try to slow down at all, rather, I should do things on my own pace. That’s why I finally applied for the exam a few weeks back and, even if it had been very dangerous, it is great to be a genin now and-”

Dear God, did Minato go crazy? The boy never spoke more than necessary and he was most certainly never rambling. The fact that he was talking so much made her wonder if he had said anything for this to anyone before. Knowing him, he probably just kept to himself until now. And looking at him now, she just couldn’t find it in herself to interrupt him and make one of her usual nasty comments. He just looked so happy right now. He was also smiling one of his most beautiful and endearing smiles ever in such an energetic way, very unlike proper, calm and tranquil Minato – by this point, Kushina didn’t really care if she was starting to get poetic or anything. She would probably not see him again either. 

Somewhere in the middle of her thoughts, he stopped talking and she could only look at him in awe. Noticing his confused look, she quickly said whatever was on her mind.

“That’s great! I- I’m so happy for you –dattebane!” Damn, that word again!

She was ready to apologize but his laughter stopped her. This was such a different laugh from usual – a more vivacious one.

“Thank you, Kushina-kun!” Noticing her frown – he probably didn’t know it was because of the name calling – he quickly added, “Really, I mean it. Your support means a lot to me.”

And there it was again, that stupidly infuriating smile of his that made she want to both hide and punch him in the face. Oh great, she was probably blushing now as well.

“No problem –dattebane.” Scowling, she continued, “Just look out for yourself out there, got it? I’m not going to be around to boss you or lecture you, so… so behave!” The redhead shouted angrily.

“Got it.” 

He was probably kidding now, Kushina thought as she raised her head. But his smile was once again in his face, his usual composed one and every urge she had to fight back quickly died. She really hated her personality sometimes; during a fight, sure, she could always take care of herself but during these moments, the really important ones, she had no idea how to act at all. She couldn’t just laugh it off or punch him half-heartedly; she had to show him she actually cared… even if it was just a little, of course.

“Take care of yourself, okay?” Those words came out much softer than she had originally intended.

Breathing deeply before she lost all resolve and ran away – because she would obviously do that anyway – the redhead leaned forward and hugged him in a strong hold. Even if it had been quick, she could still smell the soft of lavender that the boy had naturally. Holding a laugh, because his hair was tickling her cheek – he was shorter than her, at least, one good thing – she let him go. She knew she was already completely red and, not losing another second, promptly dashed away from the empty classroom – save for an equally red-cheeked boy who stayed behind.


	4. Missing

Kushina hadn’t seen Minato again ever since that fateful day. Somehow, the boy managed to disappear from her life completely! Well, it’s not like he was the only one at fault, though. After the incident, as she began to call it, the redhead proceeded to avoid any places where she might meet the boy by chance, staying solely in the Academy or at home (even though that wasn’t the same anymore ever since Old Mito passed away) for the period of one week. What made her budge hadn’t been the ‘calling of love’ as one of Mikoto’s book said about true romance or whatever; it had been her craving for ramen – more specifically, Ichiraku’s ramen – that made her drop pretenses and go out into the streets of Konoha for the first time in the weekend. 

Initially she had considered herself lucky to not see him after she finished her third bowl of ramen, but at her fifth bowl, she began to wonder where the fool was. Hypothesis began forming like weeds inside her head and when she finished her meal – only six bowls of ramen, which meant something was seriously wrong with her – she decided on her last hypothesis: he was ignoring her! How dare that boy do that! The incident hadn’t been her fault only, obviously, and now he was the one running from her? Damn, and just when she thought he had finally toughened up…

Against her better judgement, Kushina got up and went searching for him around the town; from the Academy onto the training grounds, she hadn’t found him anywhere. Apparently, the boy genius seemed to be in a mission of sorts. She got her answer from one of the genins, a self-centered boy four years older than her who seemed to have a problem with Minato, saying the boy and his team had left the village in the last couple of days to complete some crazy challenge their teacher asked them to do it. After getting her answer and punching the boy in the face with gusto when he called her “the blondie’s girlfriend”, Kushina left the training area’s premises. 

So now the boy genius was finally a genin - sooner than everyone else in their class, including her – and even managed to have one of the legendary Sannin as his teacher? Kushina hit a nearby tree and shouted with anger. She wasn’t feeling so much as surprise at all; she knew Minato was good. And it wasn’t envy either, because she knew he was above their level, but worst of all, she felt anger. Anger that he had left without telling her first.

And Kushina realized, still with that annoying pang at her chest that had no relation whatsoever to the Kyubi, that she was actually missing that wimp! She missed seeing him around, always with that stupid smile, or his heroic and grand speeches or simply… him, Minato Namikaze. He didn’t have to be always happy to be around her, they both knew that. She was fine with him being simply himself and not some hokage wannabe or once every generation teen genius. It was official and even a little hurtful: Uzumaki Kushina missed Namikaze Minato.


	5. Jiraiya

The first time she met him, Kushina didn’t particularly like Jiraiya. Sure, she did respect him since he was one of the legendary Sannin – but she only respected his ninja capabilities, mind you. As a human being, she thought he was one of the worst: a pervert, loud and drunk old man. She couldn’t see whatever it was that Minato adored in the old man. The blond, while against his Sensei’s perverted tendencies, did nothing to stop him and that just gave her another reason to call him sissy – even if she was starting to use that term less each day.

Initially she had been ecstatic and slightly envious to know her friend had one of the best ninjas alive as a teacher while she was still stuck in school with the same boring old faces. Even after she graduated, Kushina thought bitterly, she doubted any teacher would volunteer to train her at all because of her ‘abilities’. It didn’t seem like a problem, though, since Minato and Mikoto were always there to help her out (and even Fugaku, when he was with Mitoko). She both did and didn’t want to meet the Sannin, fearing what he would think of her – after all, she was pretty sure he already knew of her condition. And if he didn’t, he would soon enough if the legends were correct. What she didn’t expect, however, was a happy, giggling old man – what was he, a school-grader? – who was looking at her with very suspicious eyes.

“You have a really weird taste, Minato.” 

That day Kushina hit him with all the strength she had-he could’ve even been Hokage, for God’s sake, she wouldn’t have cared. The ‘ero jiji’, as she named him, was one of the few people the Red Habanero avoided-but not for fear, mind you. For his part, Jiraiya would only laugh loudly and mock her lack of femininity or the color of her hair. All the while, Minato suffered silently and that would always annoy her. Kushina did want to get along with the legendary ninja, she really did, but it wasn’t her fault he was such a pervert!

Her opinion of her best friend’s - and nothing more, she assured herself - teacher changed slightly after she started watching their trainings in a not-so-subtle way. In the mornings, whenever she would have free time from the Academy, Kushina would go watch their trainings. It became sort of a ritual to her after the first time she went spying on them. Not that she was a stalker – no, she had standards, please! – but Jiraiya gave her a very negative impression and someone had to made sure his genins, Minato especially, weren’t suffering from it! 

And what she saw astounded her. Not only was the sannin incredibly serious – which was definitely a first – he was yelling and commanding his students to do as he told. That seemed to be working since their formation worked flawlessly and soon enough three simultaneous fire jutsus brightened the field. As a reaction, Jiraiya only smiled peacefully – so unlike his loud and obnoxious drunk-like laugh – and commanded them to do it once again. Later on, when the genins would be so tired they couldn’t even get up from the grass, Jiraiya would tell them their strong and weak points, urging them to get better. Needless to say, Kushina was dumbfounded. 

From that day on she started going to see their trainings more frequently when she didn’t have classes in the Academy. It was a blast to see them, even if she wasn’t the one training. Jiraiya seemed to know she was around but he never uttered a word, so neither would she. The genins were usually too busy with their training to notice, even teen genius Minato, which was good. Kushina didn’t want to look or sound like a stalker after all – she was just checking up on a… friend and making sure he was safe and sound, that was it. 

Every once in a while Jiraiya would look at her direction and give a little smirk, which annoyed her to no end. Still, she smirked right back at him, wondering if he could see her reaction. After that he would get back to their training and Kushina would continue to watch them, amazed. As much as she didn’t initially like Jiraiya and his antics, she had to admit that he was a pretty damn good teacher.


	6. Toads and Costume

Far away from the village, in one of those seemingly endless forests that gave one goose bumps, was a small group of ninjas. The three children were laying on the grass, still trying to catch their breath after that series of almost brutal training stances, while the only adult around was sitting comfortably in a trunk of wood while writing down unknown words with a much too happy expression. If not for the man’s white hair and formal ninja uniform, anyone would think he was a pervert with that expression – which was, sadly, the case.

Minato, who was the first to recover from the training session, was eying his teacher with nothing short of admiration. Honestly, he didn’t know what to expect when he heard one of the Legendary Sannin would be his teacher. He knew Jiraiya was fairly eccentric and had a passion for toads – which both of them shared, for the young genin’s surprise – but he surely didn’t expect such… attitude. It was a dilemma for him how his easy-going, drink-loving with pervert tendencies man could turn into such a serious, strategist and ferocious ninja. As soon as they began their training after one day of travel and silly riddles to pass the time, Jiraiya had changed quite a lot. He suddenly became very demanding and was pushing all of them to their limit. 

Each one of them had a specialty and Minato’s had been his agility and quick thinking – that combination proved out to be very useful, since he was able to fight toe to toe with his much older teammates. Initially none of the children had given Minato much credit, although Jiraiya had been fairly interested in him from the beginning. He’d probably heard about his agility, since that had been the first training exercise for them. Apparently his agility had surprised his teacher, who sent him a beaming green after. But his happiness was short lived since the next exercises – particularly the one concerning strength – had ended in an almost broken nose for Minato. By the end of the series of training all genins were too tired to even lift a finger.

His teacher was also exceptional – and Minato knew that even before Jiraiya showed them his summoning jutsu. His teammates shut up as soon as the summoned colorful toad appeared before their eyes. The toad was beautiful, with his skin filled with artistic patterns in his red skin, and he even talked! In that moment, Minato knew his teacher was like no other ninja. He was proud to have Jiraiya as a teacher and he would do his best to live up to be his student.

Minato could hear his teammates mumbling to each other about their teacher, complaining about his cruelty with their training, but he felt complied to stay silent. He didn’t agree with them at all; they were genin, it was expected they’d eventually get hurt and of course the trainings were now stricter than before. He shouldn’t be much of a comparison, though, since even at his time in the Academy he was one of the few children who endured the long sessions of training. The only other student who seemed to actually have fun in it had been Kushina, he remembered with a smile. What would she be doing now? Probably eating some ramen at Ichiraku’s, no doubt. She loved that place. Perhaps one day he should take her there? 

“Hey, Minato!” His teacher called him, prompting Minato to turn in his direction. “Why are you smiling like that for?”

Dammit, his teacher was good. He could feel the blush spread across his face and it only worsened with the smirks his teacher and teammates were giving him. How could he escape this? He certainly couldn’t say he was thinking about a girl after all.

“I- I was thinking about a… a red-“ Minato mentally slapped himself. Great, he said red, how obviously could that be? “A red… a red toad! Yes, that’s what I was thinking about”. He smiled a bit awkwardly.

His teammates were already disinterested by his reaction but Jiraiya was still looking at him with a weird smile. 

“A toad, eh? I see. Perhaps you could introduce me to that toad when we get back to Konoha, Minato?” 

For once, Jiraiya’s smile was annoying for him. Sighing, Minato – still blushing – nodded. 

Now where would he find an actual red toad?

.

Being back in Konohagakure brought Minato divided feelings. Initially he had been more than happy to be back at his hometown and seeing dear friends once more. Heck, even the Hokage had been there, welcoming them back to the village while chatting animatedly with Jiraiya about the genin group. Minato was more than glad to go see his friends, who had been waiting for him at the entrance of the village. Being welcomed by the people who mattered to him was always more than enough: it gave him the boost he needed to continue in his quest to become hokage and even made him forget momentarily that there was no family to receive him back.

What made him even happier this time was to see a redhead, no, the only redhead in the village, there to welcome him back. His smile probably wouldn’t fit his face anymore, but Minato didn’t care. He was so happy to see her there, the person who he had missed the most during training – although he wouldn’t admit it to her in fear of being beaten down. Kushina was also smiling at him and she even hugged him when he approached her and Mikoto. Her hug didn’t last than a few seconds, sadly, but he could still smell the soft lavender from her hair and… was that ramen? His answer came in the form of a bag with a hot recipient inside that was given to him.

“You’re probably tired, so here is the best food of Konoha for you! You can thank me later.” She smiled at him.

Oh, this was turning out to be the best day of his life so far. Being surrounded by his dearest people and receiving such a present – a ramen from Kushina, of all people, was definitely a present – made him too happy for words. But of course luck couldn’t last so long. And it all came crashing down with a single phrase from one of his teammates.

“So, is that the red toad, Minato?” 

He saw, with utmost horror, as Kushina’s face morphed from a smile into a deadly glare.

“Oh… Am I a toad, Minato? Did you just call me a… a frog?!” Her violet eyes were now burning brightly – and not in a good way. “I’ll show you the frog -dattebane!” 

That day Minato discovered the reason of her feared nickname, ‘The Red-Hot Habanero of Konoha’. 

.

Costume

“You’re evil, did you know that?” 

The newly graduated kunoichi with red hair smiled brightly at his ‘compliment’. 

“Oh, lighten up, blondie!” Kushina said between laughs – very loud, unladylike laughs, she took pride in knowing – and almost tears. “Now you’re definitely Jiraiya’s all time favorite student!”

“Gee, I’m so happy to hear that”, he answered sarcastically, but with no real bite. He desired Jiraiya’s respect more than he’d ever admit. His teacher was almost like family to him. But then again, everyone in Konoha was like family to Minato. “It’s not like I want to be exactly like him, especially in his… less than admirable activities.” 

Kushina knew very well what those activities were about. She still took extra care to visit the public bathhouses only when both Minato and Jiraiya would be training away from the village. That was the only pro during those times, though. Still not convinced in the slightest, the redhead stared deeply into the blond boy’s eyes. That always made the boy uncomfortable and more prone to tell the truth. As a reaction, Minato visibly gulped and blushed slightly – for once, he was glad there was mud in his whole face. With just one look from her he suddenly felt very self-conscious. Being scrutinized by those vivid and beautiful violet eyes made his confidence in ninjas skills seemed to disappear in a blink. Kushina just had that effect in him. 

But instead of saying something comforting or simply prolonging the silence, laughter soon filled his ears - a hard, cruel laughter. 

“Dude, sorry, but I just can’t take you seriously with that outfit!” She was nearly crying with tears now. “Should I begin to call you Froggynato from now on, Mr. Froggynato, sir?”

“That won’t be necessary.” With a glare ¬– or the closest thing to one Minato could ever muster around Kushina – he turned around and started to walk away. “Besides, there’s a big difference between frogs and toads, Kushina-“

“Oh, stop being a nerd, Froggynato!”

Of course, all attempts to sound serious and threatening were reduced to dust as he walked in the direction of the sunset with that ridiculous frog costume. Even after five minutes walking, he could still hear her laughter. If being thoroughly humiliated by his Sensei before in front of his teammates, now it was even worse because Kushina, the toughest girl he had ever met and who was the person’s who’s opinions mattered the most to him - had seen him in this deplorable state.

“Damnit, Sensei, you’ll pay for this.” 

Yet, despite his words, Minato didn’t really mean it. Sometimes he truly hated his “goody-two shoes” ways as Kushina would put it, but that was just his personality. If he wasn’t in a dangerous mission or in a very serious training, there was nothing that could make Minato even close to lethal. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t play with his honorable Sensei every once in a while. After all, the Sannin Tsunade was around town during this time of the year and she did take a fancy for bathhouses… 

“I guess Kushina really is rubbing off on me.” With a sigh, Minato said to himself in an ironic tone. He smiled at the thought. “But it’s not like that’s a bad thing either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N (from 2012): I haven’t seen the nickname “Froggynato” around, but I thought it was pretty funny (then again, my sense of humor is a bit off tracks, so one can never be sure…). From now on there will be fluffy/lighthearted ficlets showing changes in Minato and Kushina’s relationships over the years, however neither the ‘rescue scene’ nor Naruto will be portrayed. Thank you all for the kind feedback and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!


	7. Presents

With cheeks as red as her hair, still unable to breath properly, Kushina was in a mix between either frowning with awkwardness or smiling like a fool. 

It had started so simply: a simple request, a petty denial, immature sulking and finally, a present. Or rather, it had started with a present, had it not? Kushina sighed as she sat down on the soft grass of the training grounds – how different the same place could be with the presence of someone else – as she pieced together the latest events.

.

“Kushina, could you give me a hand?” Minato asked in rather strangled voice from beside her.

Still wearing her training gear, Kushina pretended she hadn’t heard him. She’d felt his presence miles away and while initially she’d been curious why Minato would come to the training grounds without hiraishing at all, Kushina instantly frowned when she noticed what was in his hands. 

Valentine presents from practically every girl of the village, kunoichi or not. It happened yearly and of course this time around it wouldn’t be any different. She didn’t even know why this was bothering her now, after all this time – except, she actually knew why. 

Stupid feelings, keeping her from being the effective kunoichi she so longed to be. 

If it had been any other day, the kunoichi would’ve been glad to help the blond out, especially because Minato never asked for any help. The awed expression he would do whenever she showed him just how capable and responsible she could be at times or how she was getting better at her ninjutsus – mostly thanks to him, though – and his heartfelt thanks were enough to warm her heart.

Said heart however, felt quite cold at the moment. 

“K- Kushina?” He asked pathetically, unsure of what to do. The pile of presents was abnormally tall and it was a wonder how he was still standing.

“Yes?” Her voice was abnormally high and sweet. Her amethyst-colored eyes glanced at his blue ones – well, what was visible of them, anyway. “What ever could you want, Minato?”

“J- just a little help with these things, if you don’t mind… they’re quite heavy.” He glanced to the pile of presents as if to make a point – as if she hadn’t already seen that amount of garbage before.

Kushina sighed irritably and glared at the blond ninja. It was pathetic; Minato was barely keeping his balance, with his arms were full with pink-colored boxes and high-quality ninja gear. Teen genius and the fastest runner in the village, he still wasn’t superman. Still, because you could never be too sure with Minato; or with herself, for that matter. 

Kushina was proud to exhibit her newly acquired rank of kunoichi, even if she got it the same time as everyone else. Her graduation had been a blast and she was more than happy to be perceived as a true ninja by her fellow peers and the hateful villagers. She didn’t hate the villagers though; she just disliked the way they looked at her. 

But she grew to ignore the looks and be proud of herself with the help of her friends. And especially with Minato’s help. Not that it mattered much now. He was obviously too busy with his pile of presents from his admirers to even notice how she had changed. How they had changed.

She couldn’t even see her face amidst all that mess. He didn’t look like he was going to be able to hold all those neatly wrapped presents much longer, though.

“Kushina, I’ll give you half if you want.” Minato pleaded in an attempt to get her help. “Heck, I’ll give all of this to you! So please, help me out!” 

For a second there, she almost gave in. Free candy was always a treat, regardless if you were six or sixteen. She could feel the sweet taste of those chocolates already, but she remembered who had cooked those chocolates –and for whom it was cooked. Her resolve was quickly back and she replied acidly: 

“I don’t want any of it, Minato! You should’ve considered this before you accepted all these presents from those girls!” 

“But Kushina, you know I can’t help it! They gave this to me as a present of graduation and I could only thank them and take it!” 

Oh, the ever so kind Minato. Such a pushover, she thought bitterly. 

“But it’s way too much, can’t you give me a hand?” His legs were trembling now. “I can’t even attempt to Hiraishin with all this!”

She had enough of this. Not only was her best friend and love interest –ugh, how she hated that term. Couldn’t Mikoto come up with something more awesome for what Minato was to Kushina than a silly teenager expression? – too much of a pushover to deny those gifts which he would obviously not eat since he disliked candy, Minato was also showing off how popular he was. Even if it was all done unintentionally, it was enough to rile her up.

“Well, that’s too bad.” And with that, she was up. 

She turned around without another word and started to walk away. After a few steps later she heard a sound of something fallen and a moan. Despite her childish anger, her first instinct was to turn back and run back to him. Kushina would never deny helping someone in trouble, and that had been one of her biggest problems in missions – she risked herself way too much for a ninja. But then again, she didn’t care. If someone needed her, she would be there. 

She would be there for someone in trouble, wouldn’t she? Then why didn’t she help Minato when he asked her in one of those few rare times? Because of jealousy, that’s why.

It was silly; she knew that. It was only spiteful jealousy, but she just couldn’t take the fact those girls so freely gave him all those things while she couldn’t even attempt to give him a kunai. Her guilt only furthered when she saw him on the floor, pathetically under that pile of rainbow-colored presents. At least she’d have given him a present with his favorite color, blue. The sight was even more pathetic than when Minato had been standing up and Kushina hated seeing him so helpless. Swallowing her pride, she marched up to him and offered him her hand without a word.

Taking the hint that she was angry, Minato only nodded appreciatively and held out her hand. Both of them were standing face to face: Kushina with a glare and Minato with a confused expression. The presents lay forgotten on the grass.

Kushina, still ashamed of her early behavior, decided to break the silence.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know what came over me,” Actually, she did. “But it was mean and wrong. I- I…“ Ugh, how come whenever she actually had to say something she’d just get stuck? Her voice only seemed to work for shouting, apparently. Kushina frowned. Taking a deep breath, she whispered the words, “I- I’m sorry, Minato.” 

Despite all this, the blue-eyed teen only smiled at her. Minato nodded with understanding forgiveness and she was thankful.

Kushina didn’t even know why she’d get so nervous all the time she was with him. Minato never got truly mad – and definitely not at her – but she still in a completely unbecoming manner for a kunoichi. For God’s sake, she was a member of the Uzumaki clan; there should be nothing out there that could instill fear in her (aside from Kyuubi, that is). And still, she feared Minato – or rather, feared losing him. 

Kushina shook her head quickly. She wouldn’t allow herself to go back to the sad days after she arrived at Konoha, alone and scared. Wasn’t that the reason she was training so hard, to become someone capable of taking care of herself? 

 

“These are…” He didn’t complete the phrase, still lost in happy bewilderment.

“Kunais, yes. But they’re not just normal kunais! I used some jutsus that I learned from Lady Mito to make them more resistant. Courtesy of the Uzumaki clan.” Kushina added with a wink.

This was a present Minato was sure to like; she knew that from all the time they’d spent together during the last years. His favorite weapons were kunais and lately he’d spend hours just throwing them around in an open field, trying to develop a jutsu. Kushina was still curious what type of jutsu it could be, but she was confident in Minato’s abilities: it’d be a blast, for sure.

So of course she’d expected a happy reaction from him, contrary to his meek smiles to those neatly wrapped presents. Kushina expected one of his gorgeous smiles, as bright as the sun, and hopefully a hug. Both things happened, to her joy. What she didn’t expect, however, was the last bit that happened between them before Minato dashed off with his Hiraishin to get rid of the presents thrown in the ground (he’d give them to his sensei as a thanks for his countless lessons in the past). 

What happened, as Kushina still recalled with cheeks as red as her hair, was just after the warm hug Minato gave her.

“Thank you so much, Kushina!” He showed her another breathtaking smile. “Your present, it was… perfect! Really, the best present I’ve received in my life!” 

She took his words as heartfelt thanks with a smile, but didn’t think much of it. That is, until-

“You understand me so well – as I understand you,” Both of them exchanged a thankful smile.

What surprised her – and surprisingly, him as well, as she’d later find out – was what followed next. Minato, still smiling, added with a wink, “And that’s one of the things I love so much about you.” 

Kushina only had the time to see another one of his bright smiles before he faded, ‘hiraishing’ with all those presents in hand.

.

Love? As in, like-like-love? Her mind was still a jumble of feelings and thoughts ¬– so unbecoming of a ninja, Kushina berated herself.

She still didn’t know if she should either be frowning with awkwardness or smiling like a fool. Apparently, her body knew it better than her as she felt the corner of her lips twitching into a silly smile. 

Kushina didn’t understand love at all, but she also couldn’t label her feelings for Minato as a simple crush – leave that to those annoying fangirls of his – they knew each other too well, trusted in each other too much for it to be just that. Minato was her best friend, but their bond was different than her own bond with Mikoto. 

It was too soon to find out. She was only sixteen after all. There was no need to rush into unknown things and start proclaiming like a mad poet about things she didn’t even know – yet. They could take it slow, on their own rhythm, and go discovering things along the way. And while she was afraid of what this might mean, she also couldn’t imagine a life without the smiling fool she’d come to miss every day. Kushina smiled softly as she touched her hairclip – her first present from Minato. 

Taking a deep breath, the redheaded kunoichi got up and stood waiting for that familiar blond hair appear within her sight.


	8. Presents (Epilogue)

Set between chapter 5 and 6

“Here,” Minato said with sparkling blue eyes and an equally bright smile as he held a little box in his small hands.

Kushina swallowed the last bit of her favorite ramen –always at Ichiraku’s of course– and turned to look at him with a mystified look. She’d avoided talking with him for weeks after their little ‘incident’ in the empty classroom. The red-haired kunoichi-to-be wasn’t sure how she felt about having her first kiss stolen –because there was no other way of classifying it in any other way– by such a sissy. But then again, Minato had proven his worth after rescuing her and being a more than capable ninja. Nowadays Kushina hadn’t even thought of him once as being a sissy, and that fact made it a little awkward to be around the blond every now and then. But now Minato was actually taking the initiative to talk with her, which was definitely a first. 

Violet eyes inspected the small red box with curiosity. While there was a possibility of this little present being a prank, Kushina didn’t consider it as a threat. Minato was trustable and rather serious, he wouldn’t attempt such jokes ¬and especially not with her if he planned to live a long life.

She took the box into her hands and, after inspecting it once more and deeming it safe, she opened it. Inside there was a small, elegant black hairclip. Kushina briefly wondered if he’d given her the wrong gift, but one look at his hopeful eyes and surprisingly nervous expression and she knew the gift was indeed for her. Glancing once more to the hairclip, Kushina realized at once the meaning of the present.

After all, hadn’t she always been complaining about how her long hair was in the way whenever she practiced? She’d annoyed her teammates and Minato, her training pal, with enough complaints about her hair to last a lifetime and yet she’d never cut it. Of course she’d never tell him he was the reason she never cut her hair. He was the only person who liked her hair and, as unpractical as it could be, Kushina couldn’t just cut it. 

It was the perfect present. Sure, it wasn’t an awesome ninja weapon or scroll, but it was practicable and definitely important for her training. Besides, it wasn’t even girly considering it was a girl’s item: the surface was slick and black. It wasn’t tomboyish either; rather, it was elegant. Kushina wondered if it would really fit her. She was barely a girl at all, always refusing to wear dresses and makeup. If it weren’t for her long hair, she’d probably be mistaken for a boy all the time.  
As surprised –and strangely flattered– as she was when she received the gift, she was also very thankful. That had been the first gift she’d received ever since she arrived in Konoha. Looking back, it had also been the most important gift she’d received as well. While it wasn’t anything too expensive or big, it was emotionally important for her. The hairclip helped her discover her feelings for Minato. Needless to say, she started wearing it everyday; sometimes she would even forget to take it off before bedtime, since it was so practical and natural to her.

She was very grateful to Minato for the present. It was sweet, thoughtful and practical; the exact type of thing she liked although she didn’t know that until she’d actually gotten such a present. She wanted to thank him with a gift of her own, something that would be just as thoughtful and as practical as his gift. 

Her answer came when she saw him training one day. Minato was awfully fond of kunais, of all weapons, and it seemed his still-in-development jutsu used them. She also noticed with a frown that his kunais were too worn out; the metal was already rusty and the handle no longer had its traditional white color. It was a shame for Minato, who was so talented, not to have adequate weapons with him. Knowing him, he probably gave his new kunais to his students rather than using it himself. As foolish as it was, Kushina couldn’t find it in herself to criticize him. Rather, she found that trait of his almost… endearing.

The redhead was so busy in her thoughts that she only registered the blond boy’s waving hand moments after he left the training grounds (possibly to train with the old pervert, Kushina wondered). She berated herself for being such an airhead at times, especially when it involved Minato. Next time she would wave back, rather than just freezing on spot and blushing like a frickin’ tomato.

Huh. Maybe those children in Academy did have a point.

Shaking her head, Kushina glared in the direction the Hokage Mountain, golden from the sunset’s light. Her dream had never been earning a place in there – that was Minato’s dream. 

When an Uzumaki set their mind on something, you could bet it would happen. And damn it all if Kushina wasn’t going to do her best to help him make it happen.


End file.
